DUMFRIES DOCK PARK VOTED BEST IN SCOTLAND

Dock park in Dumfries which recently underwent a £2m overhaul has been voted the best in Scotland.

Keep Scotland Beautiful has revealed the results of the poll to identify the nation’s favourite open spaces.

A celberation to be held Today 16th of October at 11.am at the Dock Park ,marking the Green Flag People’s Choice Award for Scotland award, local Councillors, the Friends of Dock Park and people involved in the park’s restoration will all attended

Dock Park was the first park in Dumfries and Galloway to receive a Green Flag Award earlier this year. As a result of this, all parks that achieve a Green Flag award are put forward for the People’s Choice Award. Green Flag is a national recognition for parks and green spaces that are of a high quality.

In the vote, organised by the Green Flag Award scheme, which presents Green Flag status to the best open spaces in the country, Keep Scotland Beautiful hailed the Scottish successes announced today .

The Green Flag Award for parks is the national standard for parks and recognises well managed, high quality sites with community involvement

In 2014, there were 64 Scottish parks and open spaces that initially sought recognition for their quality environment. A record 59 were successful and 8 parks were awarded Green Flags for the first time by Keep Scotland Beautiful.

All Green Flag Award-winning parks and green spaces are entered into the annual People’s Choice Award vote, which every year sees countrywide mass involvement in voting for the very best.

The Green Flag Award scheme is licensed to Keep Britain Tidy, from the Department for Communities and Local Government, and managed across the UK in partnership with Keep Scotland Beautiful, Keep Wales Tidy and Tidy Northern Ireland, the Federation of City Farms and Community Gardens and the National Housing Federation.

Councillor Colin Smyth, Chairman of Dumfries an Galloway Council’s Economy, Environment and Infrastructure Committee said, “We were absolutely delighted that the Dock Park was awarded a coveted Green Flag earlier this year, which was worthy recognition of the way the council has totally transformed the park. However to now be voted No. 1 in Scotland is an outstanding achievement especially because this award was as a result of a public vote.

“You only have to visit Dock Park most days to see just how popular it is with visitors and local families. A lot of hard work by a lot of people has gone into the regeneration of this historic park and this is just reward for those efforts, a great example of this is The Friends of Dock Park who have been supporting the regeneration since 2010. The Dock Park has a lot of support from the community and with staff now based their permanently, a regular maintenance regime is in place to keep the park looking good, there is also a regular programme of events. I am sure we will build on this achievement and the Park will continue to go from strength to strength.”

Keep Scotland Beautiful is responsible for managing the award in Scotland and Derek Robertson, Keep Scotland Beautiful Chief Executive said:

“Our warm congratulations go out to Dock Park in Dumfries for their 1st place. We all know how important all green spaces are, and it is great to see the success of this local park being recognised nationally.

“With a record number of Green Flag awarded parks being named in Scotland, we can point to genuine improvement in these green spaces, and we congratulate those responsible for park management at Dock Park, as well as the local community who help with upkeep and management. Locals tell us time and again how valued this park is for recreation, and in celebrating this Scottish success story, we look for continued improvement next year.”

The initial Green Flag bid was completed by DGC but involves/ includes all of the work done by Friends of Dock Park, HLF, Landfill Communities Fund through Solway Heritage and the community surrounding Dock Park. The People’s Choice Award depended 100% on public backing.